Hair cutting device



Jan. 19, 1943. A. HOROWITZ ETAL 2,308,920

HAIR CUTTING DEVICE I Filed Feb. 23, 1940 firr fPn sr a Patented Jan. 19, 1943 HAIR CUTTING DEVICE Alexandre Horowitz and Alexis van Dam, -Eind-' h'oven, Netherlands, assignors; by -mesneassig'ne.

ments, to Hartford National Bankand'lirust Company, Hartford, Conn, as trustee Application February 23, 1940, Serial No. 320,484 In Germany February 23, 1939 4 Claims.

The present application, which is a continuation-in-part of our co-pending U. S. application S. N. 303,290, filed November 7, 1939, patented May 19, 1942, No. 2,283,834, relates to hair cu"- ting or shaving devices having a shaving head consisting of an apertured, for instance slitted, cutting or shear plate and a rotary, preferably electrically-driven, cutter.

In our above-mentioned application we proposed to move the shear plate, for instance rotate the same, at a speed Which is much less than that of the cutter in order that the hairs may be caught in the slits and cut in a better manner than in devices using a stationary cutting plate. However, we have found that when the plate is rotated continuously, it frequently happens that some hairs are not cut.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the above difficulty and for this purpose and in accordance with the present invention we give the cutting plate an oscillatory movement in its plane about the driving shaft of the cutter.

The cutting plate is preferably provided with radial slits which terminate, for instance at the periphery and in a central depression of the plate. In such cases the amplitude of oscillation of the cutting plate may correspond to at least the width of one of the strips of the plate between two successive slits, but preferably the amplitude is made substantially equal to the pitch of the slits. We have found that an oscillation frequency of about 100 to 500 oscillations a minute with a cutter speed of about 6,000 to 12,000 R. P. M. gives very good cutting results.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, we shall describe the same in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which,

Figure 1 is a sectionized side-view of a portion of an electric shaver embodying the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a section along line 22 of Figure 1.

The shaver illustrated in the drawing comprises a hollow housing I of insulating material such as Bakelite, in which is supported an electric motor 2 having a shaft 3. Shaft 3 has a fiattened end which fits into a slot 4 in the end of a shaft 5 extending through the end wall 6 of the housing. A compression spring I located within slot 4 presses shaft 5 in the direction of arrow 3.

Mounted on a boss of the end wall 6 and rotatable about the shaft 5 is a metal disc I0 provided with a radial slot II for a purpose later to be described. Secured to the periphery of disc I0 is a metal cup-shaped member or shear plate I2 whose upper end has a central depression or cavity I3 which forms an annular portion provided with a large number of radial or substantially radial slits I4. The slits I4, which may have a width of about 0.2 mm., extend through the annular portion and through the wall I5 of cavity I3 and the outer wall I5 of member I2. The slits may be widened at their ends to guide the hair into the same.

Mounted upon the outer end of shaft 5 is a cutter I'I having two cutting edges I8 which are pressed against the inner surface of the annular portion of member I2 by the spring I. As shown the cutter II has two diametrically-opposite cutting edges, but, we prefer to use three cutting edges located 120 apart because this uniformly distributes the pressure on the annular portion of member I2. The edges I8 preferably make a sharp angle with the edges of the slits I4.

In accordance with the invention, the shear plate I2 is oscillated in its plane and for this purpose a gear I9 fixedly-mounted on shaft 5 drives a larger gear 20. Gear 20 is fixedly-mounted on a shaft 2i which is rotatably mounted on the end wall 0. The portion of shaft 2| between gear 20 and the end. wall 6 is shaped as an eccentric 22 which engages the slot II in the disc I0 (see Fig. 2).

By changing the ratio of gears I9 and 20, the number of oscillations per minute of the shear plate I2 can. be changed, and by varying the eccentricity of portion 22 and/or changing its distance from the axis of shaft 5 it is possible to change the amplitudes of the oscillations. As stated we prefer to oscillate the shear plate with about 100 to 500 oscillations per minute when cutter II has a speed of about 6,000 to 12,000 E. P. M. and make the amplitudes of the oscillations at least equal to the distance between two of the adjacent slits I4. The amplitudes of the oscillations of the shear plate however are preferably made at least equal to the pitch of two successive slits I4.

Although we have described our invention with reference to specific examples and applications we do not desire to be limited thereto because obvious modifications will appear to one skilled in the art.

What we claim is:

1. In a hair-cutting device, a shear plate provided with a large number of apertures adapted to receive the hair to be cut, a cutter cooperating with said shear plate, means to rotate said outter including a driving shaft, and means to rotatively oscillate said shear plate in its plane about the driving shaft of the cutter.

2. In a dry-shaving device, a shear plate provided with a large number of interspaced slits adapted to receive the hair to be cut, a cutter cooperating with said shear plate, means to move said cutter at a high speed, and means to vibrate said shear plate at a slow speed and with an amplitude exceeding the distance between two successive slits.

3. In a hair-cutting device, a shear plate provided with a large number of apertures adapted to receive the hair to be cut, a cutter cooperating with said shear plate, means to rotate said cutter at a high speed including a motor, and means driven by said motor to rotatively oscillate said shear plate.

4. In a hair-cutting device, a shear plate provided with a large number of substantially radially-extending slits adapted to receive the hair to be cut, a cutter cooperating with said shear plate, means to rotate said cutter at a high speed including a motor, and means including said motor to rotatively oscillate said shear plate at a speed between about 100 and 500 oscillations per minute and with an angular amplitude at least equal to the annular distance between two successive slits, preferably equal to the pitch of two successive slits.

ALEXANDRE I-IOROWITZ. ALEXIS VAN DAM. 

